a new kind of public intellectual

I always make a point of voting for Chomsky in the annual Prospect poll of Top Public Intellectuals, on the grounds that it will embarrass its staff and put off advertisers.

But this is even better. The world’s top intellectual is apparently a Sufi mystic called Fethullah Gulen, whose legion of fans gamed the poll. The response from the editors was as you might expect:

…perhaps we can see in Gülen’s victory the emergence of a new kind of public intellectual: one whose influence is expressed through a personal network, with the help of the internet, rather than more traditional institutions like journals or universities.

Rigged voting: it’s the new discourse. Anyway, I await the forthcoming extensive coverage of Mr Gulen’s ideas: surely the world’s top intellectual journal will be publishing the thoughts of the world’s top intellectual.

After all, if Sufism is good enough for British Muslims, then it’s good enough for Prospect readers too.